A tarmac tale: Ann Rea says YES! to Brent

Ann Rea and Brent share a moment after he asked her to marry him minutes after his B-1B bomber landed at Dyess Air Force Base on Friday to end deployment to Guam.(Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News)Buy Photo

Finally, on the tarmac at Dyess Air Force Base as Friday afternoon turned into evening, shadowed by a B1 bomber, they got the job done.

Moments after climbing down the ladder leading from the cockpit and hugging his sweetheart, Brent took a knee and asked Ann Rea to marry him.

And she just thought getting to ride in the 9th Bomb Wing's "BAT IX" provided an unexpected twist to reuniting with her beau, a B-1 weapons officer.

"I had no idea. I was shocked, absolutely," she said later, still all smiles and tears. "Look at me ... I'm still shaking."

Oh, by the way ... she accepted.

At a wedding in October, when he met more of her family, Brent decided Ann Rea was the gal for him, forever.

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Brent, a B-1 weapons officer, returned to Dyess Air Force Base on Friday after a deployment to Guam and asked his girlfriend, Ann Rae Phillips, to marry him.
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The bomber was due in Thursday but the crew hit their flying hours limit and had to stay the night in Hawaii.

I know ... those poor guys. Stuck in paradise.

But for Brent, who has been at Dyess for four years, it delayed his big plans.

"I was furious," he said. Getting to sleep was tough. "I got the minimum."

By the time the B-1 touched down Friday, there had been by some counts seven arrival time changes.

Brent (due to safety concerns, I'm using only his first name) stole this emotional show. Other families reunited, youngsters hugging their daddies, husbands passionately kissing their wives, sometimes all this going at once.

But, dude, taking a knee and producing a ring ... that's a showstopper.

While the couple first embraced, his mother sneaked behind Ann Rea and handed her son a small brown box. Brent then pulled back, said what he wanted to say and then popped the question.

"I was very nervous," he said. "I hoped that she would like it."

Later, they'd pop champagne and toast each other and those celebrating with them.

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Ann Rea Phillips shows off the ring after accepting a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Brent, a Dyess Air Force Base B-1B bomber weapons officer. He asked her to marry him minutes after arriving back in Texas from deployment to the Pacific.(Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News)

On hand were Barbara and Kenny Phillips, her parents from Grapevine, and Aliceann Phillips, her grandmother who lives in Abilene. Also there were his parents, Cheril and Eric, of Colleyville. Eric was in the Air Force back in the day, flying B-52s as did Ann Rea's grandfather.

“I had no idea. I was shocked, absolutely. Look at me ... I'm still shaking.”

Ann Rea Phillips, after her boyfriend, Brent, asked her Friday to marry him

Asked if he proposed so dramatically to Cheril, Eric laughed.

"It was pathetic," he said. "This makes up for it."

Ann Rea was so caught off guard that every photo has her clutching her smartphone.

"She was going to take selfies," Aliceann said.

No need. There was an army of photographers on hand.

The couple — she's 25 and he's 28 — met as students in Colleyville. She went to A&M and today is a registered nurse in the oncology department at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He went to Texas Tech and joined the Air Force five years ago.

She was busy, he was busy, but they kept a long-distance relationship going.

"I trusted the heck out of her," he said. "It was quite easy in the end."

About two years ago, Ann Rea said, they got the feeling this was going somewhere.

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Brent, a B-1 bomber weapons officer, kisses his fiancee, Ann Rea Phillips after a champagne toast on the tarmac at Dyess Air Force Base on Friday. Brent asked Ann Rea to marry him minutes after exiting the bomber that returned from deployment to Guam. She said yes.(Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News)

Brent enlisted some help and bought a ring before being deployed — not at the base exchange at Andersen AFB in Guam. He sent that to his mother.

Brent was supposed to come home at the start of August — he left Jan. 29 — but the B-1 deployment went into overtime.

He then was due back Tuesday, but that became Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, Ann Rea drove to Abilene from Houston after finishing work Wednesday morning. She stayed with her grandmother.

The Thursday evening arrival then looked like it would be after midnight, then maybe even later. Then Friday evening.

The two sets of parents were camped at local hotels and Aliceann's duty was to keep them away from Ann Rea. She'd sneak into her bedroom of her small home to quietly exchange text messages to find out what the parents were doing or where they were eating out.

You know Abilene ... it's small enough they'd wind up at the same place and the surprise would be blown.

"I kept Ann Rea here all day (Friday)," Aliceann said. "This was such a fun thing, but it was so stressful. Oh my gosh."

"She'd get so excited ... he'd send her a picture, he's on the plane," Aliceann said.

And then wait.

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Brent, the second crewman off a Dyess Air Force Base B-1A bomber returned from Pacific deployment, dashes to his girlfriend, Ann Rae Phillips. Minutes later, he'd drop to a knee and ask her to marry him.(Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News)

But finally, the reunion happened and with his crew, other Dyess B-1 personnel and families as witnesses, Brent asked for Ann Rea's hand.

Out of nowhere, a bottle of champagne was produced.

"Does anyone have ... glasses," Ann Rea joked. No, but there were cups and the couple toasted each other, sipped some bubbly and kissed again.

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Ann Rea Phillips wait by the 9th Bomb Wing's "batmobile" on Friday at Dyess Air Force Base. She was expecting the return of her boyfriend, Brent, from a B-1B bomber deployment to the Pacific.
Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

A Dyess Air Force Base B-1B arrives Friday from deployment to the Pacific. On board was Brent, the weapons officer. Waiting for him was his girlfriend Ann Rea Phillpis, standing with a Dyess airman called Torch, who drove her onto the tarmac in the 9th Bomb Wing's "batmobile."
Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

Brent, the second crewman off a Dyess Air Force Base B-1A bomber returned from Pacific deployment, dashes to his girlfriend, Ann Rae Phillips. Minutes later, he'd drop to a knee and ask her to marry him.
Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

Ann Rea Phillips shows off the ring after accepting a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Brent, a Dyess Air Force Base B-1B bomber weapons officer. He asked her to marry him minutes after arriving back in Texas from deployment to the Pacific.
Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

Brent, a B-1 bomber weapons officer, kisses his fiancee, Ann Rea Phillips after a champagne toast on the tarmac at Dyess Air Force Base on Friday. Brent asked Ann Rea to marry him minutes after exiting the bomber that returned from deployment to Guam. She said yes.
Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News